Table Of ContentMoving With Words
& Actions
Physical Literacy for
Preschool and
Primary Children
Meeting the National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes
Rhonda L. Clements, EdD
Manhattanville College
Sharon L. Schneider, MS
Hofstra University
Human Kinetics
Library-of-Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Names: Clements, Rhonda L., author. | Schneider, Sharon L., author.
Title: Moving with words & actions : physical literacy for preschool and
primary children / Rhonda L. Clements, Sharon L. Schneider.
Other titles: Moving with words and actions
Description: Champaign, IL : Human Kinetics, 2017. | Includes bibliographical
references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017018111 (print) | LCCN 2017034474 (ebook) | ISBN
9781492548621 (e-book) | ISBN 9781492547907 (print)
Subjects: LCSH: Movement education. | Physical education and training--Study
and teaching (Preschool) | Physical education and training--Study and
teaching (Elementary)
Classification: LCC GV452 (ebook) | LCC GV452 .C57 2017 (print) | DDC
372.86--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017018111
ISBN: 978-1-4925-4790-7 (print)
Copyright © 2017 by SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and
retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Suggested citation: Clements, R.L., and Schneider, S.L. 2017. Moving with words & actions:
Physical literacy for preschool and primary children. Reston, VA: SHAPE America; Champaign,
IL: Human Kinetics.
The web addresses cited in this text were current as of May 2017, unless otherwise noted.
Acquisitions Editor: Ray Vallese; SHAPE America Editor: Joe McGavin; Developmental
Editor: Jacqueline Eaton Blakley; Senior Managing Editor: Amy Stahl; Copyeditor: Annette
Pierce; Graphic Designer: Angela K. Snyder; Cover Designer: Keri Evans; Photograph
(cover): Mark Bowden/Getty Images/iStockphoto; Senior Art Manager: Kelly Hendren; Il-
lustrations: © Rhonda L. Clements and Sharon L. Schneider; Printer: Sheridan Books
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper in this book is certified under a sustainable forestry program.
Human Kinetics
Website: www.HumanKinetics.com
United States: Human Kinetics Europe: Human Kinetics
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E7041
“Movement, imagination and play are keys to
a happy childhood.”
Sharon Schneider
“To be someone, you must become someone.”
Rhonda Clements
Contents
Preface viii • Acknowledgments xi
Setting the Standard With Age-Appropriate Content,
Part I
Instruction, and Assessment 1
Chapter 1 Selecting Age-Appropriate Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
The Power of Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Physical Literacy and National Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Guidelines and Frameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Movement Concepts as Age-Appropriate Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
A Young Child’s Physical Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Manipulative Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Considerations for Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 2 Creating and Implementing Lessons Plans . . . . . . . . . . .17
Selecting Behavioral Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Determining the Central Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Planning Learning Tasks (Ages 3-8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Making Smooth Transitions Between Learning Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Creative Ways to Form Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Structuring the Learning Environment to Be Physically Safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Personal Community and Cultural Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Instructional Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Planning Supports for Children With Special Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Providing Differentiated Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Academic Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Chapter 3 Making the Most of Every Lesson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
A Typical Lesson Plan: Body Shapes and Creations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Making Lesson Plans More Purposeful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Instructional Materials and Props 38
Special Safety Considerations 41
Provisions for Special Needs 41
Students’ Prior Knowledge 41
Health-Enhancing Components of Physical Activity 42
Motivating Physically Literate Learners 43
Instructional Cues and Prompts 45
State Education Standards 47
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
iv
Contents ■ v
Chapter 4 Assessing Children’s Ability to Move
With Words & Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Evidence 1: The Child’s Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Evidence 2: Responses to Higher-Order Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Evidence 3: Written Summaries and Progress Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Part II Lesson Plans for Moving With Words & Actions 55
Chapter 5 Moving With Words & Actions to Create
Healthy Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Building Content Knowledge to Enhance Physical Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Body Shapes and Creations 66
Strong Bones 68
Twisting Body Parts 70
My Special Body Parts 72
Muscle Actions 74
Body Expressions 76
Jumping Jills 78
Time, Force and Flow . . . On the Go 80
Body Outlines 82
Active Fruits and Vegetables 84
Fruit Salad Toss-Up 86
Sizzling Vegetables 88
Healthy Lunchtime Foods 90
Chapter 6 Moving With Words & Actions in Our Community . . . .93
Community Helpers 95
Farm 97
Fire Station 99
Toy Store 101
Park 103
Schoolyard 105
Food Market 107
Pet Shop 109
Gas Station and Repair Shop 111
Train Station 113
Car Wash 115
Pizza Parlor 117
Construction Site 119
Laundromat 121
Library 123
Airport 125
Beach 127
Building Structures 129
Wintertime Holidays 131
vi ■ Contents
Chapter 7 Moving With Words & Actions Like
Living Creatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Living Creatures Near and Far 136
Animal Actions 138
Under the Sea 140
Crustaceans 142
Feathered Friends 144
Penguins 146
Eagles and Chickens 148
Spider Web Formations 150
Insects and Bugs 152
Bumblebees 154
Life Cycle of the Butterfly 156
Horses 158
Learning About Nature 160
Chapter 8 Moving With Words & Actions in
Science and Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Substances, Surfaces, and Textures 164
Power Sources 167
Wave Actions 169
Undersea Travel 171
Life Cycle of a Tree 173
Cave Structures 175
Wind Patterns 177
Vines Found in the Jungle 180
Rock Formations and Water 182
Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Jumping With Words and Numbers That Rhyme 184
Hopping With Words and Numbers That Rhyme 187
Moving With Words and Numbers That Rhyme 190
Geometric Shapes 193
Puzzle Shapes 196
Body Triangles 198
Measuring Horses 200
First and Last 202
Creations 204
Contents ■ vii
Chapter 9 Moving With Words & Actions in Language Arts . . . .207
Movement Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
When to Use Movement Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Alphabet Stretches A to Z 210
Alphabet Letters 212
Alphabet Treasures 215
Alphabet Rhythm 218
My Body Can Form Letters 220
Brain-and-Body Connection 222
Body Language 224
Twisting and Twirling Actions 226
Halloween Objects 228
Movement Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Places in Our Community 230
Super Bodies 232
Fairy Tale Actions 234
So Very Small 237
The Letter S 238
Small to Tall 239
Objects in Our House 240
Amusement Park 241
Ice Rink 242
Sports Stadium 243
Hardware Store 244
Racetrack 245
Shoe Store 246
Magical Powers 248
Rainbow Magic 249
Machines 250
Space Travel 251
Science Museum 252
References 255 • About the Authors 257 • About SHAPE America 259
Preface
With the rate of childhood obesity increasing and beginning at an earlier age in
many parts of the world, opportunities for planned physical activity and unstruc-
tured physical play are needed now more than ever. This book’s content supports
SHAPE America’s National Standards for K-12 Physical Education (published in
2013), which stress that the goal of physical education is to develop physically
literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a
lifetime of healthful physical activity. This goal is also critical for teachers of young
children who are searching for age-appropriate content, for a better understand-
ing of how to plan and implement comprehensive lessons, and for suggestions
of ways to assess a lesson’s success. Moving With Words & Actions addresses
the teacher’s desire to implement activities that can awaken children’s love for
lifelong physical activity. It also confronts the problem of childhood obesity by
providing the tools needed to increase the young child’s level of physical activity
and movement competency.
We selected the title Moving With Words & Actions: Physical Literacy for Pre-
school and Primary Children for this book because words are the key stimuli for
engaging children in active movement. The use of words to entice children to
move is presented according to topics that the child can relate to readily, such
as those found in his or her immediate environment and those that reflect the
body’s parts and capabilities as well as the child’s academic learning. With the
great emphasis on language arts and literacy skills, as seen in the areas of math
literacy, English literacy, computer literacy, and science literacy, it seems most
appropriate that the title of this book reinforce the fact that words and actions
work together in lesson plans that enrich children’s knowledge of their expanding
world, their understanding of themselves and others, and their ability to move
competently and confidently within it. The title Moving With Words & Actions
makes this point clear as you select from a variety of lesson plans that contain
as many as 30 action words.
Literacy development in children is directly related to language development.
Physical literacy is directly related to children’s ability to move efficiently and
effectively to complete age-appropriate movement tasks. Just as young children
use words to become more language-literate, their understanding and demonstra-
tion of action words can help them become more physically literate. This is seen
as the young child begins to learn that every movement that he or she performs
has a word to describe that action. The term “physically literate” makes use of
children’s fascination with new words, their delight in moving actively with peers,
and their strong urge to participate cooperatively in learning tasks made up of
group physical activities that emphasize action words. The outcome is a solid
first step toward the child’s becoming a physically literate learner who later will
move with a high level of competence and confidence in multiple environments
throughout an active life. This book links physical literacy with words so that
you will have ample activities to foster and enhance this concept.
Organization and Content
Whether employed in childcare centers or programs or in public or private
elementary schools, teachers of preschool and primary children have a respon-
sibility to promote children’s physical literacy development based on the most
viii
